A blog following the journey of our premature twins, Joe and Harry who were born on 28/01/10 at only 23 weeks gestation.

Saturday, 13 February 2010

A good day

Jason came to see the babies today. I think he was surprised at how tiny they are. He found them rather uninteresting so I doubt he will be rushing back any time soon, but it was lovely to see him all the same.

Today David and I had a meeting with one of the consultants to get a progress update on the twins. Basically, we couldn’t have hoped to hear much better news. He said he still believes the babies to be closer to 23 weeks when they were born, than 24, but despite this they are both doing exceptionally well, particularly Harry. He said how rare is it for such early babies to tolerate feeds so well, and neither have had any major complications thus far associated with being so premature. He also stressed how that can still change and they have a long way to go yet, but even Joe’s nurse, who was in the meeting, told us afterwards how unusual it is for that consultant to be so positive.

So, updates on babies.Joe: They decided today to begin Joe’s steroids. They are already doing the trick, and his oxygen is down from 70% to below 50%. He has them 8 hourly, and twice a day he also has Ranitidine as the steroids can irritate the stomach lining. His blood pressure his raised a little which is a side effect of the steroids, but they are monitoring it hourly. His weight is up to 600grams but another of the side effects of steroids is slow growth so he may not gain a whole lot while he is on them. Still no sign of his other eye opening any time soon. Brain scan this evening was normal.

Harry: Still our Steady Eddie. His ventilation is being slowly reduced and he is now on caffeine citrate, which I think it to help stimulate him to breathe more on his own. He had another blood transfusion this morning as he was anaemic. His colour is looking beautiful now, he really pinked up about half way through the transfusion. Harry’s weight is now 603 grams, so he is level pegging with his brother. His brain scan was also totally normal.

Both babies are now on 4.5ml of breast milk with added fortifier for extra calories and nutrients every hour.

I’m going to write about Joe’s nurse when I am less tired. She is honestly the most tactless, socially inept person I have ever come across. Just my luck that she cares for my baby several times a week.